Black
Brent Coon & Associates attorney Lou Thompson Black wrapped up the month of February by filing an asbestos suit in Orange that boasts more defendants than days in the short month.
Black filed the suit on behalf Raymond Hairston Jr., on Feb. 20 in Orange County District Court against 38 companies that allegedly conspired to conceal the hazards of asbestos, and claims the corporate defendants maliciously inflicted Hairston with an asbestos-related disease by manufacturing, selling and using asbestos products.
According to the plaintiff's original petition, companies such as Viacom, General Electric and Zurn Industries knew that the asbestos products they manufactured would hit the market without inspection for defects.
"Defendants knowingly conspired among themselves to cause plaintiff's injuries, diseases, and illness and/or death by exposing him to asbestos," the suit said. "Defendants committed conspiracy by willfully misrepresenting and suppressing the truth as to the risks and dangers associated with asbestos."
The suit says the defendants have been in possession of medical and scientific data exposing the health risks of asbestos for decades, but conspired among themselves to suppress the information.
"Plaintiff has sustained damages including injuries…and has been deprived of the opportunity of informed free choice," the suit said. "Each defendant violated federal and state regulations relating to asbestos exposure."
The plaintiff is suing for physical pain and suffering in the past and future, mental anguish in the past and future, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, disfigurement in the past and future, physical impairment in the past and future, and past and future medical expenses, including home care costs.
He also seeks punitive and exemplary damages.
The case has been assigned to Judge Pat Clark of the 60th Judicial District.
Case No. A090093